First sight of Spa's Eau Rouge makes the same kind of impression as the top of Kitzbuhel's Hahnenkamm ski run. TV pictures are one thing, but the reality is altogether more dramatic.
It's the sheer gradient you're unprepared for. You park the car and there it is, that evocative strip of ribbon, like a giant launch pad dissecting the pines and spitting you straight into leaden-grey sky. It looks forbidding and, for years, it was. Today, though, with 2.4-litre V8 Formula One cars, they say it's 'easy flat', no challenge at all.
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